Some Nobel ideas from a physicist

Bremen's Dorothy Mather is proud of prize-winning nephew.

Bremen's Dorothy Mather is proud of prize-winning nephew.

December 26, 2006|IDA CHIPMAN Tribune Correspondent

BREMEN It was like a Big Bang. Dorothy Mather, 79, and her niece, Alyce Price, were listening to the TV news when the anchor announced that two American physicists, John C. Mather and George F. Smoot, were co-recipients of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics. Almost simultaneously, the phone rang. "Yes, that's our John," said Richard Bachmann, Dorothy's cousin from Baltimore. Dorothy was thrilled to death that her nephew John, a senior astrophysicist with the Goddard Space Flight Center, is the first National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) employee to win for his work. Mather and Smoot spearheaded NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite team that opened a new era of precise measurements of the first moments of the universe, dubbed the Big Bang, that occurred at least 10 billion years ago. Per Carlson, chairman of the Nobel committee for physics, said of the effort, "It is one of the greatest discoveries of the century. I would call it the greatest. It increases our knowledge of our place in the universe." John, 60, is a frequent visitor to Lake of the Woods. The son of Dorothy's late brother, Bob, he was born in Roanoke, Va., and now lives in the Washington, D.C., suburbs. He studied physics at Swarthmore University, earning his bachelor's degree in 1968, and his doctorate in 1974, from the University of California in Berkeley. Married to Jane, John was supposed to wear a white tuxedo to the ceremonies in Stockholm, Sweden, on Dec. 10. But Dorothy said Jane told her, "she didn't think white tennis shoes would go with the outfit." The two scientists shared a $1.4 million check, and were awarded gold medals and diplomas by King Carl Gustav XVI on behalf of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Dorothy said she understood that John was donating part of his prize to fund a program to stimulate an interest in science for children. That's a great idea, she said, since the family reveres education. Dorothy is the youngest of six children of missionaries to South Africa. She graduated from Purdue University in 1951 and earned her master's and teaching license in physical education from Indiana University. She taught at Washington-Clay, South Bend, for two years and Elwood (Ind.) High School for a year before coming to Plymouth High School in 1955. She retired 30 years later as the Plymouth girls athletic director. Right now she is planning for the every-other-year Cousins Reunion to be held in July 2007 at her home at Lake of the Woods. "We'll have anywhere from 25 to 45 family members come for four days," she said. The event will celebrate John's outstanding accomplishment. Does she understand what the project means? "Oh, no, "she said. "John tries to come down to our level, but it is pretty hopeless. "Family means a lot to him, and we always enjoy his company," she said, "even if we don't understand a word he says."